7 Things
"7 Things" is a pop punk song performed by American recording artist Miley Cyrus. The song was co-written by Cyrus, Antonina Armato, and Tim James and produced by John Fields. It was released on June 17, 2008 by Hollywood Records as the lead single of the Cyrus' second album Breakout . Also registered as "Seven Things I Hate About You", Cyrus developed the song during the Best of Both Worlds Tour while feeling numerous emotions for an ex-boyfriend, mainly being furious. The song's release brought allegations that it was about Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, which Cyrus neither confirmed nor denied. Musically, "7 Things" bears aspects of both country and rock, while the lyrics in the song's refrain list seven traits Cyrus hates about an ex-boyfriend. "7 Things" received mixed reviews from critics but enjoyed worldwide commercial success, becoming a top ten hit on charts in Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United States. The single was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), while its appearance on the Japan Hot 100 made "7 Things" Cyrus' first song to chart in an Asian country. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Brett Ratner and features Cyrus performing the song with a back-up band as many teenage girls lipsync along. The girls clutch a variety of props, such as love letters and snow globes, inspired by personal items Cyrus' ex had given her. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award at both the 2008 and 2009 award shows. Cyrus promoted the song through several venues including her world tours, the Wonder World Tour and the Gypsy Heart Tour. Background "7 Things" is also under the legal title of "Seven Things I Hate About You", as registered by Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). Like most of the songs on Breakout, Cyrus conceived "7 Things" while traveling on the Best of Both Worlds Tour from October 2007 to January 2008."I was locked up in the bus the entire time. And it was, like, such a great time for me to have a minute for myself, which I never get. So it was awesome to get to do that and just kinda go through all the different stages of what's been going on the last couple of years. And I just thought it'd be fun to just kinda. I didn't even mean for it to be for, you know, the record or for anything. It was just like 'just start writing this'. I got into it and I played some of it for my sister and she was like, 'dude, that's awesome'. And it was just so much fun to have, like, a good, little therapy moment for me, just to be able to go through everything. It was awesome. It was so much fun to write."Cyrus says "7 Things" was inspired by an ex-boyfriend. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Cyrus said that she was "going through ... nine-hundred different emotions while trying to write the song" and that her use of the word "hate" demonstrated how furious she was. When Seacrest asked if she was worried the song's subject would hear it and be upset, Cyrus responded that while she was slightly worried, "I want him to be upset. That was my point." She showed her draft to co-songwriters and producers Tim James and Antonia Armato, who suggested adding it to Breakout. Originally, "7 Things" was more "soft and nice" but Cyrus says she "went nuts" during the recording process and gave the song a harder sound. Cyrus had initially chosen "Fly on the Wall" as the lead single from Breakout, but replaced it with "7 Things" because she felt it was a "better introduction" to the album Nick Jonas Allegations Allegations that "7 Things" was about Nick Jonas, lead singer of the Jonas Brothers, sprouted soon after the song's premiere on the May 13, 2008 broadcast of the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show. Cyrus and Jonas had dated for two years before breaking up in late 2007. Cyrus claimed, "Nick and I loved each other" and that after the breakup she "bawled for a month straight" while trying to rebel "against everything Nick wanted her to be".Henry Freeland of Paste described "7 Things" as "the list of reasons she hates an ex-boyfriend (who just might be lead Jonas Brother, Nick)" and her "concern ... that all of this hatred only leads them to love Maybe-Nick ... all the more".8 Blogger Molly Lambert, quoted in The New York Times said, "Cyrus had recently broken up with her first serious boyfriend — a fellow Disney celebrity, Nick Jonas, of the Jonas Brothers, who was also her arena-concert tour mate during their secret two-year affair. In the video for '7 Things' she wears Nick’s diabetes dog tags while singing about how his vanity and insecurity undermined their relationship." Jessica Herndon of People similarly points out the necklace and the fact that Jonas, "who split with Cyrus in late 2007 after two years of dating – has Type 1 diabetes and is a spokesperson for awareness of the disease." When asked if the allegations were true, Cyrus said,"With '7 Things,' I think a lot of people do, you know, think it’s about Nick Jonas, and if they think it is, that’s fine, or whoever they think it’s about. But mostly that song is about who, um, they want it to be to. Like mostly, it’s if a girl hates her current, or ex-boyfriend—for me it’s an ex-boyfriend—so I think, you know, like, Nick is someone that was really important in my life, but I don’t hate him. It’s a good song and it’s fun."While Jonas responded the allegations with, "I think it’s funny. Honestly, I’m not insecure, my friends are cool—so it can’t be about me!" According to Tiger Beat magazine, when Cyrus' best friend Mandy Jiroux was asked if "7 Things" was about Jonas; she responded, "yes". Composition "7 Things" is a pop rock song with a length of three minutes and 33 seconds. According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song's verses are tinged with country while its refrains bear pop punk aspects. The song is set in common time and has moderate rock tempo of 108 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E major while Cyrus' vocals span one octave, ranging from G#3 to G#4. Fraser McAlpine of the BBC called the song a "a three-tempo patchwork quilt". In the song's introduction, the band begins to strum acoustic guitars at a moderate tempo while Cyrus chants "sha". The tempo continues as Cyrus begins the first verse in the song's fourth bar. At each chorus, "7 Things" speeds up dramatically and Cyrus' vocals become aggressive and forceful; Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly described the transition as "from sensitive breakup song in the strummy verses to punky-pop kiss-off in the double-time choruses." McAlpine noted the stress Cyrus places on vowels in the song: "'yerw' instead of 'you', 'erw' instead of 'oh', and so on...".The song's lyrics are written in second person, a message from the singer to her ex-boyfriend detailing the hurt he caused her while they were dating. The refrain is a list of the seven traits the singer "hates" most about her ex, with the seventh item being her frustration that despite his flaws, he makes her love him. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times noted that the list actually "runs to 8 to 11 things, depending on how you parse it". Henry Freedland of Paste magazine compared it to a similar list featured as a poem in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You. In one verse, Cyrus asks for a sincere apology and states, "If you text it, I'll delete it", which Molly Lambert of The New York Times said "perfectly captures our confusing age of technologically mediated courtship." The song concludes with a variation of the refrain, in which Cyrus names the seven things she likes the most about her ex, again concluding with "you make me love you". Critical reception "7 Things" received mixed reviews from critics. Fraser McAlpine of the BBC called the song "smashing", complimenting Cyrus' "punker attitude all wrapped up in an immaculate gloss". Todd Martens of The Los Angeles Times wrote that while he wished the song had played up Cyrus' frustration rather than concluding with the kind final verse, "the winning, full-on chorus -- and Miley's exuberance -- are enough to make it a success." Ben Ratliff of The New York Times said "7 Things" "lists with talky insecurity what she hates about a guy" and calls "the seven things she likes ... a shameless Disney ending". Heather Phares of Allmusic contended, "7 Things" is a twangy, clever piece of love-hate pop that feels descended from Shania Twain's flirty mix of rock and country" and marked it as one of the best tracks on Breakout. Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly called it one of Breakout's "best tunes" because it "let Cyrus be feisty without graduating to Avril-like levels of petulance" while Josh Timmermann of PopMatters finds it "appealing". Mordechai Shinefield of The Village Voice described the song as "hooky and catchy enough", but warned that "it's only a step away from warmed-over emo platitudes". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe claimed "Avril Lavigne's brand of pop-punk snarl creeps into '7 Things'." Robert Christgau labeled "7 Things" and "Breakout" the best songs on Breakout. Chris Richards of The Washington Post claimed the album's "overproduction is apparent on the chorus of the album's first single, "7 Things," an avalanche of guitars and rushed syllables." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine called the single "rather annoying" and not "a worthy follow-up to 'See You Again'", while Bill Lamb of About.com said the "winning performance" demonstrated that "Miley Cyrus does not intend to simply be a TV-generated phenomenon in the pop music world. She is a compelling pop artist in her own right." Chart Performance On the week ending June 21, 2008, "7 Things" debuted at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song ascended to number seventy the week ending July 5, 2009 before jumping to number 70 in its third week due to sales of 130,000 digital downloads. "7 Things" moved up to number nine on the week ending July 26, 2008, surpassing "See You Again" and becoming Cyrus' best charting effort on the Hot 100. "7 Things" also peaked at number 14 on the now-canceled Pop 100 chart. In Canada, the song debuted at number 40 on the week ending July 5, 2008 and peaked at number 13 on the week ending July 26, 2008. As of June 2013, "7 Things" has sold 1,686,000 copies in the United States."7 Things" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song made its debut on the Australian Singles Chart at number 38 on August 17, 2008. After five weeks, "7 Things" reached its peak on the chart at number ten. The song has been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipping over 35,000 copies. "7 Things" debuted at number 27 on the New Zealand Singles Chart on August 17, 2008 and, after eight weeks on the chart, reached number 24. "7 Things" also became Cyrus' first song to chart in an Asian country: On the week ending September 27, 2008, "7 Things" debuted at number 81 on the Japan Hot 100; it reached number nine on the week ending October 17, 2008 and reached its peak at number eight on the week ending October 24, 2008.In the UK Singles Chart, "7 Things" made its entry at number 87 on September 13, 2008 and reached its peak at number 25 on December 13, 2008 In mainland Europe, the song peaked at number 44 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles and at number 14 in Austria. "7 Things" debuted and peaked at number eight on the Norwegian Singles Chart on August 19, 2008. The song experienced similar commercial outcomes throughout the rest of Europe; it charted within the top 40 of charts in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Germany, and Switzerland. Lyrics Category:Songs Category:Singles Category:Breakout Songs